The luxury perception of Hungarian Generation Z
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.15170/MM.2021.55.04.06Keywords:
luxury marketing, experience economy, perception, Generation Z, social mediaAbstract
THE AIMS OF THE PAPER
This paper maps the luxury perception of the Generation Z focusing on the role what social media plays. Our research aimed to represent how the most popular, Hungarian Gen Z Instagram influencers expressed luxury in their contents before and after the pandemic. Additionally, we examined the general perception and interpretation regarding luxury by this age group and identified whether the youth prefers personal luxury goods or experiential luxury.
METHODOLOGY
In the scope of our two-step research, firstly, we conducted qualitative content analysis on Instagram posts of Hungarian influencers born between 1995 and 2010. Secondly, four mini focus groups took place with four Gen Zers per each.
MOST IMPORTANT RESULTS
Both the content analysis and the focus groups showed that the participating generation Z members prefer experiential luxury. Influencer posts contained mostly super exclusive free time activities, accessories from luxury brands, prestigious car brands and expensive electronics. We could not find substantial difference in the appearance of luxury between the two periods. During the interviews we explored the main characteristics of luxury according to Generation Z’s perception. The luxury purchase intentions of the participants had strong connection with utilitarian, hedonic, self-directed symbolic, other-directed symbolic and cost values. To conclude, all the interviewees desire luxury experiences over materialistic luxury goods.
RECOMMENDATIONS
Generation Z demonstrated high level of interest in experience-oriented luxury. According to the focus groups, it is worth addressing them by influencer marketing, but only with real, trustworthy luxury content. They interpret it as a strong inspiration, and the early catch of desire helps with developing the future luxury consumer base. Therefore, luxury brands should emphasize the possibility of expressing self-identity and success by their prestigious goods or moments of experiential luxury.
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